Reducing changeover time in injection molding: a lean approach

Abstract

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and production efficiency are two of the measures that influence mold changeover time. In the context of mold changeover time reduction, these two measures are highly influenced in the manufacturing industry. Through this study, the main aim is to reduce the mold changeover time and increase process efficiency with the application of Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED), waste analysis, and Eliminate-Combine-Rearrange-Simplify (ECRS). The main focus of this study is to identify and eliminate non-value-adding activities from the changeover process. Therefore, this study had done a time-and-motion study and a process breakdown analysis in order to identify the factors that are critically influenced. While the SMED and waste analysis are dealing with the internal and external setup, ECRS will help to streamline the process by improving efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore, this study will discuss the impact of lean manufacturing tools such as SMED, waste analysis, and ECRS on the process and operational efficiency improvement. Also, it discussed how these tools can be practiced in the industrial context.